Why I left Engineering/IT

I didn't leave because it was hard.
I left because it was no longer worth it.

Friday, August 31, 2018

My Investment Portfolio (August 2018)

STI ended the month at around 3213 points, down around 3% from last month. It had been another challenging month for investors, especially those in the emerging markets as trade war fears accelerated further with Turkey becoming the latest addition to the list. On the local front, companies with financial year ending 30 June 2018 reported their full year results but it had been a mixed bag with cautious outlook statements.

For this month, I have attended the following AGMs/EGMs/briefing - Delfi, Del Monte and Straits Trading.

For my top 30 holdings, the main mover had been Bukit Sembawang Estates as the stock recovered from the selldown last month, due to news of 'well-received' private preview of its freehold condo project, 8 St Thomas. Stamford Land also held up well this month as the company begin to buy back its shares from the market. DBS and Best World dropped out of the list due to market volatility, being replaced by SGX and CapitaLand. I will continue to build on my top 30 holdings list by adding onto some of the more defensive positions going forward.

I have accepted the following voluntary delisting/cash offers this month - Europtronic, Techcomp (listed shares and private company) and Vard. I have also participated in the following scrip dividend scheme - Frasers Commercial Trust.

I will be receiving some interim dividends from companies with financial year ending 31 December 2018 next month and will be re-investing some back into the markets. With markets continue to be volatile, I will maintain a more defensive position going forward. I will also have to catch-up with some readings as it will be a quiet month with not much AGMs going on.

1. Asia Enterprises. Company is cash rich, with zero borrowings and trading way below NTA. High PE is because they have only just recovered from marine and offshore downturn and therefore profit is small. Company has good track record of paying dividends every year, even during bad times.

2. Ellipsiz. Trading below NTA, company is cash rich after selling their Probe Card business. I believe that they might pay out more dividends as there is still quite a decent amount of cash in their balance sheet.

3. Global Investments. Trading at 30% discount from NAV, with decent yield. Yes, I think the manager is quite ok and the discount is not justified, although it is a closed end fund. Similar to UIS, I think there might be a chance for the discount to be narrowed in future and hopefully, it can be liquidated at NAV to realize value for shareholders.

4. SIA Engineering. PE might seem high for this one but it is trading at around 4%pa dividend yield, which I think is decent. They have been disrupted by newer airplane engines not there not requiring frequent checks and also some engine manufacturers themselves setting up their own maintenance arm. However, most of their business are still from SIA, which I think is sticky. Also, I believe that there is a small chance that SIA might take the company private in future.

About Me

A self-directed investor, looking to invest for retirement needs and bypass all those expensive financial planners/insurance agents. Investing is fun, profitable or most important of all, knowledge gained is useful for the rest of your life!